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More Tips on How to Take Great Waterfowl Pictures
Jeff Coats
 Editor’s Note: Jeff Coats of Bel Air, Maryland, a fantastic waterfowl hunter and even better waterfowl photographer, guides for sea ducks on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Here are some more tips from Coats on how to take great waterfowl pictures.
When Alpen Optics asked Coats what camera lens he’d recommend for a person who wanted to photograph wildlife without having to spend a lot of money, he answered, “Canon has a nice 70mm to 300mm zoom lens that’s not very expensive. Other companies may have a similar lens that zooms out to 200mm or 300mm. With a 200mm to a 300mm zoom lens, you can take some really-good wildlife photos. I’m often asked how I get jump shots on ducks. There are two ways. If you’re photographing only ducks, you’ll need to keep the sun at your back. Then when the ducks jump off the water, the sun won’t only light them up, but it also will light the water to enable you to see the ducks’ splashes. You also want the wind at your back, so that when the ducks come off the water, they’ll fly into the wind. Many times getting both the sun and the wind to your back can be difficult. The easiest way to get this shot is to get a friend to get behind the ducks, and when you’re ready to photograph, tell your friend to flush the ducks. If you can’t get the sun directly at your back and still have the wind at your back, then try to get the sun to either the left or the right. Then when the ducks jump into the air, the sun will still light them up.”
  To get really close-in-your face photos, Coats uses a 600mm lens. “Hunting ducks with a camera isn’t much different from hunting ducks with a gun,” Coats advises. “Even when I’m using the big lens, I can use my Alpen binoculars to identify the ducks and look for the spot where I want to take their pictures. I’ll use my Alpen spotting scope or binoculars to choose the duck I want to photograph. Even with a 600mm lens, the closer I can get to the ducks the more in-your-face photography I can shoot.”
Unlike most wildlife photographers, Coats doesn’t use a tripod, because he feels it’s cumbersome and doesn’t give him the freedom of movement he needs to photograph birds in the air or on the water. “I’ve found that sneaking up on birds when you’re carrying a tripod is hard,” Coats mentions. “All my lenses have image stabilizers. When I get ready to shoot, I shoot the camera just like I do a gun. I take a deep breath, bring that 600mm lens up, hold it as steady as I can and start shooting. I always shoot my camera in the aperture Preferred Mode. By shooting a small aperture and letting the camera choose the shutter speed, I can freeze the action better and get better pictures. The camera can change shutter speeds faster than I can. Therefore, if I pick a small aperture, the camera will select the shutter speed I need as the light or the background changes, and I can continue to photograph the bird.”
Coats doesn’t shoot any pictures with the Program or the Automatic Mode on his camera. Coats’ friend, Scott Moody, taught him to shoot photography using this technique, and he’s been very successful. Coats sets his camera, often at first light, at 3200 ISO and then turns the ISO down as the day gets brighter. He sets his aperture to allow a small amount of light in, and then the camera sets the shutter speed.
 Coats has invented a unique system of teaching waterfowl and wildlife photography. He’ll take four photographers together on a one-day photo safari and put them in the spots where they can photograph shore birds, ducks, geese, the wild ponies of Assateague Island, sika deer or white-tailed deer. “To make sure the photographers get the photos they want, I’ll also take my camera,” Coats explains. “I’ll be photographing at the same time they are, and then I’ll give them copies of the photos I shoot. This way, if they don’t get the exact photo they want, I’ll be backing them up with my system. I teach them how to use the light, find the animals or birds and shoot the same type of wildlife photography I shoot.” One of the reasons Coats can take such beautiful wildlife photography is he knows where the birds and the animals are and how to get close to them. On his photo safaris, he takes the photographers to the sections where he does his photography and teaches them how and where to look for regions where they can photograph wildlife in their own states or areas.
“If you’re a waterfowl hunter, and you want to extend your season by 2 or 3 months, you still can hunt waterfowl after waterfowl season ends, if you hunt the waterfowl with a camera,” Coats recommends. “Some of my best waterfowl and wild-game photos are taken after the season when the hunters aren’t on the water or in the woods. I’ve found that February, March and April are excellent times to take waterfowl pictures. If people who want to photograph waterfowl and wildlife will call me ahead of time, I can tell them the right time of the year to photograph waterfowl, shore birds, sika deer, white-tailed deer and the ponies of Assateague.” Coats recommends a beginner have a Canon Rebel XTi body, which costs from $600 to $700, the L Series Canon 100mm to 400mm image stabilization lens, a couple of memory cards and either a case or a bag for a total price of $2000 to $2500. He also suggests buying a pair of quality Alpen binoculars and an Alpen spotting scope with a window mount.
For more information about shooting waterfowl photography, write Jeff Coats at 1522 Southview Road, Bel Air, MD 21015, or call (410) 937-4034, or email jeff@pitbosswaterfowl.com, or visit www.pitbosswaterfowl.com.
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